1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed invention relates to a hinge mechanism used for a door of a model car, especially a car made of plastic.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a car type model (a minicar) is broadly popular as a toy for children or as ornaments aesthetically enjoyed by adults. For this reason, there is a demand to finely fabricate a minicar in order to imitate an authentic car as close as possible. Therefore, there are minicars offered for ornamental purposes which capture authentic cars inside and out.
Generally, the common door hinge mechanism on a plastic model car comprises a plastic lever arm with a hole, usually slim in shape, rotating around a pivot element. Further, the pivot element is either made of metal or plastic. Plastic is flexible but not hard enough. The hole of the plastic lever arm tends to wear out under constant rubbing with the pivot after constant opening and closing of the door. A clearance in the rotational movement of the hinge will be created, and thus the door will be more and more loosely fitted and not closed to the right position. At the same time, the tightly fitted door will not stay open and swing freely. The slim plastic lever arm also flexes when opening and closing the door, which tends to change the door closing position and therefore not shut evenly and flush along the body surface.